A scrap yard company director is standing trial accused of operating an illegal waste facility.

The Environment Agency (EA) claims electrical waste equipment - including more than 2,000 fridges - were dismantled at TH Smith and Sons in Great Harwood when it was ‘not authorised to do so’ under its waste permit.

Burnley Magistrates Court heard that the company - which has since been ‘wound up’ - was a scrap yard for ‘end of life vehicles’ and was not allowed to accept any electrical waste.

Mary Smith, 40, of Great of Meadows Street, Great Harwood. was the ‘sole director’ of the company on Meadow Street. She is accused of failing to comply with requirements of environmental permit conditions, failing to comply with the requirements of an enforcement waste notice and contravening the requirements of an environmental permit. She denies all the charges.

Read More

Chris Bunting, prosecuting on behalf of EA, told the court that during surveillance of the Meadow Street site officers saw more than 2,000 fridge cases being ‘transferred to another waste operator’.

He said: “The company was accepting it and sending out fridge carcasses. Clearly it was being dismantled on site when it was not allowed to do.”

The court was told that EA officers allegedly spoke to Ms Smith on ‘more than one occasion’ during inspections of the site and ‘pointed out this area of non-compliance’.

Mr Bunting claimed that the company failed to submit annual waste returns to the agency and that as director she had a ‘duty’ to ensure it had been done. An enforcement notice was sent by EA to obtain the returns as a ‘measure of last resort’, the court heard.

The court was told that an EA officer allegedly called Ms Smith and said their permit was being suspended because of non-payment of subsistence fees and that after several weeks the permit was revoked.

Mr Bunting claimed that the notice was ‘simply ignored’ and that the ‘company carried on regardless’.

He also told the court that the company allegedly received payment of more than £93,000 for metals ‘despite the fact they had no permit’.

In a defence case statement provided for the trial, Ms Smith claimed that she was suffering from ‘significant depression’ during the time of the alleged offences and that she left the running of the yard to two employees.

She also claimed that she was ‘unaware’ the firm’s permit had been revoked.